Tony Paskins (5 December 1927 – 15 August 2019) was an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who played in the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

(NSWRL) and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

(RFL) competitions as well as playing

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

for the Randwick club in Sydney.

Playing career

Paskins was recruited from Sydney's Randwick rugby union club by English rugby league club

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

. Tony Paskins played right- in

's 18–10 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

in the

1951–52 Challenge Cup The 1951–52 Challenge Cup was the 51st staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round First leg Second leg Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final Workington Town beat Featherstone Rovers ...

Final d at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on Saturday 19 April 1952, in front of a crowd of 72,093. He was a founder member of

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

against English national sides playing in the first Other Nationalities game in 1949. Tony Paskins played right- and kicked three-

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

s in Workington Town's 12–21 defeat by Barrow in the

1954–55 Challenge Cup The 1954–55 Challenge Cup was the 54th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final This was also the first time that there was an all-Cumbrian Final. ...

Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 30 April 1955, in front of a crowd of 66,513. A

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

kicking three-quarter back, Paskins returned to Australia, along with fellow Australian and Workington Town teammate

Rupert Mudge John "Rupert" Mudge (1928–1993) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played both rugby codes in Sydney, New South Wales as well as playing rugby league in England. Rupert John Mudge ...

in 1955. Paskin was named captain of

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

side, playing 54 matches for the club in the years (1955–58). After leaving Easts he enjoyed success with the local

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...

side in rural New South Wales. In 1961 he was named as the captain of the

Country New South Wales rugby league team The Country New South Wales rugby league team is a representative rugby league football team. Between 1987 and 2017 there were two tiers: the Origin team that consisted of professional players who originated from clubs of the Country Rugby Leagu ...

and the following year captained

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

against the touring

Great Britain national rugby league team The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

although he was never selected to play for the Australian national team.

Coaching career

Paskins returned to the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

in 1963 where he spent a season as joint captain and coach of the Manly-Warringah club. Paskins moved to

Forster, New South Wales Forster is a coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Mid-Coast Council LGA, about 308 km north-north-east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin, Tuncurry, which is the smaller of the t ...

in 1967 and took over as

captain-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the Forster Tuncurry Hawks in 1968. He guided the side to premierships in that year, the 1969 grand final and 1970. Tony Paskins coached the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

club in the

1973 NSWRFL season The 1973 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the sixty-sixth season of the rugby league competition based in Sydney. Twelve district clubs from across the city, including six foundation clubs, competed for the J.J. Giltinan Sh ...

References

External links

» Legends Evening 50'sFrance defeated in 'Battle of the Boulevard'Floodlit feast at Odsal'It’s about time too'30 April 1955 Photograph of Workington Town
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paskins, Tony 1927 births 2019 deaths Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Australian rugby union players British Empire rugby league team players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles captains Manly Warringah Sea Eagles coaches Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby League XIII players Sydney Roosters coaches Sydney Roosters players Workington Town players